St. Marys puts on shooting clinic in 53-28 win at Parkway

January 20, 2014

St. Marys' Isaac Fitzgerald scored a game-high 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting from 3-point range on Saturday night in the Riders' 53-28 win over Parkway. (Staff Photo/Brian Smith)

ROCKFORD — The Parkway Panthers dared the St. Marys Roughriders to keep hitting outside shots, staying in a zone defense through much of the first half.

Isaac Fitzgerald, Derek Jay and the Roughriders were only too happy to oblige with a first-half shooting spectacle.

St. Marys hit 9 of its first 10 attempts from 3-point range in the first half and rolled to a 53-28 road win at Parkway High School on Saturday night.

Fitzgerald drained five straight treys in the first quarter to score the Roughriders’ first 15 points. Derek Jay soon joined into the party, hitting three straight 3’s. St. Marys at one point led 29-10 – with 27 of those points coming on 3-pointers.

“It was a great start, especially after our offensive performance last night,” St. Marys head coach Dan Hegemier said. “It was a great start for Isaac, for Derek, for the whole team...It was a good effort. I’m really proud of the kids.”

What a difference 24 hours can make. St. Marys scored just 31 points on Friday night in a lopsided 63-31 loss to Bath. On Saturday, the Roughriders couldn’t miss.

St. Marys shot 60 percent from the floor and 71 percent from 3-point range for the game.

Fitzgerald led the Riders with 18 points, going 6 of 8 from 3-point range.